The Defense Department’s Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee will recommend this month that Dr. William Winkenwerder Jr., principal DoD health deputy, move Viagra and Cialis to Tricare’s non-formulary status. The drugs, used for erectile dysfunction, would no longer be available through base pharmacies unless a provider claimed medical necessity. Patients could fill prescriptions through the Tricare retail network or the Tricare mail order system for $22 copayments. If Winkenwerder accepts the committee’s recommendation, a third drug for erectile dysfunction – Levitra – would remain on the formulary. The committee based its recommendation on information that, although the three impotency drugs appear to be equally effective clinically, Levitra is less expensive. Cost savings from the move are estimated to be $13 million a year. At present, only 10 percent of military beneficiaries taking drugs for erectile dysfunction use Levitra.